Maxime Moreels, 28, is the best men’s singles player in Belgium at the moment. But being the best in Belgium is not always easy.
Belgium has never been known as a country that had a lot of top players, and when you are one of the few top players like Moreels in Belgium, there are not a lot of sparring partners. Commenting on what he has done to develop in the best possible way, he says.
- In Belgium, over the years, we have always had good conditions like good coaches, facilities and good environment around: doctors, physios, mental coaches. But we were always missing players. So I moved to Odense for two years and we are still going for camps in Asia or recently in Holbaek.
Moreels has three tournament wins at international level, as well as two silver medals. All three gold medals and titles have been in Africa, and the two silver medals are from Iran and Mexico. Asking how it is to travel that far and to win in places that are not so familiar for the Belgian player, he says.
- I have indeed been to a lot in different countries in South America and Africa in the past few years. I really enjoy going there because the atmosphere is different somehow. We stay more in groups with the players from different countries and we share more moments together than we do in some other tournaments. I also like discovering new cultures and traditional food.
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Room for improvement
Moreels has definitely improved over the last couple of years, where he has reached five finals and won three of them. One of the reasons behind this is that he started to work with a new coach, Indra Bagus. But even with five finals, Moreels still sees room for development.
- There is still room for improvement in many parts of my game but I think I need to be more consistent not only during a match but also through a whole tournament.
As all of the other players, Moreels of course has some goals he would like to reach before he retires at some point. And as many of the others, Moreels has one goal that is the same.
- My short term goal is for sure to qualify for Tokyo but besides that, I want to win titles on the BEC Elite Circuit.